Days After Criticising Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton Invents Bizarre Excuses to Defend His Defeat Against George Russell

George Russell arrived at Mercedes last year from Williams and registered his presence with aplomb. He immediately adapted well to the car and constantly beat Lewis Hamilton on the race days. It was only in the second half of the season when Hamilton got a hold of the car, but that wasn’t enough to beat his newbie teammate on points. The senior Briton started the 2023 season on a better note, though. That, however, did not last for long, as Russell got the better of Hamilton in Jeddah. Looks like Lewis did not take the defeat too well, though.

While the 7x champion finished ahead of his teammate in Bahrain, the result was far from satisfactory. He finished in 5th with a 50-plus second gap to race winner Max Verstappen. The resulting frustration opened the pandora’s box as Hamilton came out with a scathing criticism of Mercedes. He revealed that the team did not pay heed to his feedback while developing the car. In his latest defeat to Russell, however, he only has himself to blame.

Express UK quoted him as saying, “I think if I had the set-up George had, I would have been in a better position. But yeah, there’s a lot to work on, but there are positives to take away.”

“I chose one way, he chose another. More often than not, where he went was the wrong one, but it just happened to work,” he added. “So I could only match his pace rather than be quicker this weekend. But I’ll work hard to make sure that we’re in a better place.”

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Hamilton is currently in his final year of contract with Mercedes. Given the slump they are going through, the Silver Arrows need him now more than ever.

Mercedes urged to build the car according to the driving style that suits Lewis Hamilton

Having a senior driver with years of experience is a boon for an F1 team. That is what makes the likes of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso invaluable assets. The role of a senior driver is immense in developing the car and right now, Lewis’ opinion matters a lot more to Mercedes than it ever did.

Speaking on the subject in the latest episode of The VF1 Show, podcast host VF Castro said, “It does put Mercedes in a precarious position right now because obviously, they want an extension for Lewis. But Lewis wants a good car. So, at this point, if you are Mercedes, you’re taking your cues from Lewis. You’re going to give Lewis the car that he wants, especially knowing what he can do in those cars.”

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It will be interesting to see if the Brackley-based team will follow suit. But what is even more interesting is that we have another teammate vs teammate rivalry developing and that makes for superb entertainment for fans.